DCSD In the News – April 2014

Administrator banks on her teaching experience — 4/25/14 (Highlands Ranch Herald)
Kiffany Lychock is uniquely qualified for her job in the Douglas County School District’s professional development department. With 10 years of classroom experience and 13 years of employment with DCSD, she’s deeply familiar with both the craft of teaching and the district.

Six high schools plan to restore schedules — 4/18/14 (Highlands Ranch Herald)
All four of Highlands Ranch’s public high schools will return this fall to the more traditional class schedule most used until 2011-12. Two of Parker’s three high schools intend to follow suit a year later, while the other three county high schools intend to remain on the block schedule adopted countywide in 2012-13.

Judges and attorneys go back to school – 4/14/14 (Highlands Ranch Herald)
At first glance, the drama played out on the Rock Canyon High School stage April 11 might have been mistaken for a high school play.

Students open tiny library in Castle Rock – 4/14/14 (Castle Rock News-Press)
Students at Castle Rock’s Renaissance Expeditionary Magnet School hope the free-standing library they opened near a community park inspires smiles along with imagination.

Family concerned about school changes – 4/14/14 (Highlands Ranch Herald)
A few years ago, the corner of Laurie and Ken Vogel’s Highlands Ranch neighborhood served as a social hub. Parents and children gathered there daily to wait for the Douglas County School District bus, conversing in the morning chill about weather, their children, school and neighborhood issues.

Science teacher gets national nod – 4/14/14 (Highlands Ranch Herald)
Shawndra Fordham refuses to set limits for her students or herself. That’s likely the attitude that earned her third place among hundreds vying for a coveted national science teachers’ award.

Outlets host huge student art show — 4/4/14 (Highlands Ranch Herald)
The artwork of more than 2,000 Douglas County School District students and teachers is featured in the DCSD Art Show at the Outlets at Castle Rock. The pieces will be on display from April 10-13.

Emotional ‘Unplugged’ meeting has upbeat ending — 4/3/14 (Highlands Ranch Herald)
The Douglas County School District’s second Board Unplugged meeting lasted nearly three hours, and was punctuated by raised voices, frequent interruptions and philosophical clashes, but it ended on a cooperative note.

Students’ excitement invigorates classroom — 4/1/14 (Highlands Ranch Herald)Highlands Ranch fifth-grade teacher Jenny Henry has turned the reins of education over to her students. “I’m no longer the expert,” said Henry, a Copper Mesa Elementary School teacher whose teaching style recently was recognized with a Douglas County School District Apple Award. “We know kids are capable of wonderful things. But you have no idea, when you hand that power over to them, just how they take off.”